


float on high or low

by steamedmantou



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 06:17:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steamedmantou/pseuds/steamedmantou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>aomine gets roped into making the sort of big damn <i>embarrrassing</i> marriage proposal he never planned on making. (a note of caution: potential bouts of second hand embarrassment awaiting.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	float on high or low

**Author's Note:**

> first completed/posted on tumblr: april 25, 2013  
> first kind of revised: july 15, 2013
> 
> acknowledgements: BIG thanks to [kamicom](http://kamicom.tumblr.com/) who gave me the story idea, came up with crucial plot points, and for betaing the initial post! couldn't have done it without her.
> 
> this story is in a way an anniversary story, completed and (originally) posted around the same time of year i first fell hard and fast into kurobasu.

            Aomine made a lot of bad decisions while drunk, but letting himself get coerced into making a big, showy marriage proposal to Kuroko was among one of the worst he'd ever made.

            No, wait.  He stood corrected.

            Terrible decision of a greater magnitude than getting suckered into making a big damn embarrassing proposal number one was that he decided it was a good idea to go drinking with Kagami along with his friends Himuro and Alex.  Aomine never thought very hard about their continued presence in his life.  It was something he accepted as part of the package of living in America and having been former roommates with Kagami. 

            Terrible decision number two was accidentally sharing his plans – well, his intentions – of proposing sometime in the near future, with the three of them.  The idea had been stewing at the back of his mind for a few months already, taking shape around the time he finally got his own place and was signed permanently onto his team.  He had a bit of money saved up, too.  The timing worked out. 

            Aomine blamed his misstep mainly on the alcohol, but maybe what really spurred him over the hurdle of silence was that he needed to tell someone, needed reassurance that it was a great idea, that it was the right time.  So he ended up blurting it all out on his fourth beer.  He'd never been such a lightweight.

            The three of them were instantly supportive.  It was a big relief at the time.  Alex clapped him on the back, all excited, and Himuro raised a glass to him in congratulations.  Even Kagami was less of a stick in the mud than usual, muttering, "About damn time," and bought them all another round of drinks.  When Himuro asked him how he planned on proposing, Aomine just shrugged and said he hadn't decided.  He sat there only half-listening to Alex chatter exuberantly about the proposal, throwing ideas in the open, with Himuro nodding along and Kagami making the occasional grunt to indicate that he'd been listening at all.  It occurred to him, only vaguely, that Alex and Himuro were strategizing.  Around then his memory started getting fuzzy, and the next thing Aomine remembered with any certainty was going home and collapsing in bed.

            He didn’t even remember agreeing to whatever plan those two had cooked up till he woke up the next morning, roused by the persistent whining of his phone, groaning from a hangover from hell with a conga line dancing on his temples all the while.  On the other end of the line a peppy customer-service type said she was calling to confirm his online order for a dozen and a half pink and white balloons, along with four extra-large foil balloons, each printed with a word in sparkly block letters, reading, respectively: WILL / YOU / MARRY / ME.  And would you like to add a bouquet of roses for only thirty dollars?

            "Why the fuck did you choose balloons?" was the first thing Aomine said as he stormed into Kagami's apartment not long after, where he was almost guaranteed to find Alex and Himuro waiting for Kagami to cook them breakfast.  Sure enough, there they were, sitting over coffee.  Behind them, Kagami sighed and took out another plate.

            "It's like," Himuro said, making a hand gesture like he could miraculously conjure an explanation to dispel how terrible the idea was, "you're saying you're so happy it's like you're floating?"

            "That's right!"  Alex chimed in.  "And with Kuroko flying in to visit in a week, you have the perfect opportunity to make the proposal!”  She paused, to emphasize: “Right when he arrives!"

            "Who said I was gonna propose then?" Aomine said, with a sense of dawning horror.  "Why the hell would I want to propose in a busy terminal in front of a crowd?"

            "Well," Himuro said, "you said you would."

            "What?!"

            "Yeah, you kinda declared it," Kagami said, as he shovelled eggs onto plates.

            "I'm not gonna fucking propose with a bunch of balloons!"  Aomine hollered.

            "Ah ah ah!"  Alex said.  "A man never goes back on his word.  Look, I have an audio recording here!"

            "And I have video footage," Himuro said, holding up his phone.

            "I'm not gonna do it," Aomine said, in disbelief.  "I don't care if you have recordings or whatever."

            "Oh really?  But wouldn't it be awfully inconvenient—" Alex said.

            "—if they made their way onto the internet?" Himuro finished.

            "I hate your friends," Aomine spat at Kagami, with rancour.  He wasn't even sure those assholes heard him over the sound of their laughter.

            "Just eat," Kagami said, putting down a plate of eggs and toast.

            Maybe the biggest mistake of all had been associating with Himuro and Alex to begin with.  The two, as a duo, were sadistic terrors.  Aomine would have been impressed were he not currently the receiving party of their humiliating machinations.  No wonder Kagami was such a neurotic bitch if this was what he had to deal with growing up.

            So, defeated and cornered, Aomine had no choice but to proceed with the balloon gimmick.  At first he wracked his mind trying to come up with a way to get out of doing it with no consequences, but with the threat of being exposed over the internet looming over his head, he reluctantly gave in.  Besides, every time he started protesting about what giant jerks the three of them were, Alex and Himuro automatically waved their respective recordings in his face.

            The following week, several hours before Kuroko's flight was due to arrive, Aomine picked up the balloons without making eye contact with the clerk.  He shrugged at her questions about his ‘bride’ to be, and ran out the door before she could ask if he'd changed his mind about whether or not he wanted to ‘make it extra special!’ and add some roses to the mix.

            The balloons wouldn't stay in the trunk of his car long enough for him to slam the lid, so Aomine had to shove them into the backseat, though not without half of them bouncing back and whacking him in the face.  On his way to the airport, every individual helium filled bundle of evil had a mind of its own; not a single balloon would stay obediently in the background.  In fending for his headspace he narrowly missed three pedestrians and two cars in blind spots, which was now, effectively, all the windows except for the windshield, and even then visibility was a dubious reality.  With his rear-view mirror rendered useless he did not notice till he pulled into the airport's parking lot that Kagami and company had been following in the vehicle behind him.

            "Oh hell no," Aomine said.  "You guys are going back."

            "What?  Kuroko's our friend too you know," Kagami said, failing to hide a grin.  "We want to see him too."

            "You're all just here to laugh at me," Aomine said, yanking the balloons out, nearly letting a few fly off in the process.  "Piss off."

            "That's an unfair statement," Himuro said mildly.

            "That's right!  Someone has to make sure you don't wiggle out of your promise," Alex said.

            “Does it _look_ like I have a choice anymore?”  Aomine said.  “Go away!  Don’t you people have any respect for privacy?”

            They trailed him through the parking lot anyway, despite the fact that he sprinted all the way to the entrance (where he caused a minor pedestrian traffic jam trying to shepherd in the balloons through the door; didn't see them helping, the bastards).  As if it wasn't embarrassing enough walking through the airport with a small army of pink and white balloons he had to do it with three jerks trailing him, cooing about how cute he was and how happy they were for him.

            "Stop following me!"  Aomine yelled over his shoulder.

            "No way!  There's no way we're missing this," Alex said.

            He hoped that he could lose them in the crowd but he had no such luck.  They'd even managed to get to Arrivals before him.  Miraculously, Alex and Himuro found the time to buy drinks.  Aomine groaned and tried to pretend they weren’t there.  It would take the patience of a saint to ignore them, the way they were smiling in his direction.

            "Aren't you two living it up," Aomine called over, looking at the iced beverages in Alex's and Himuro's hands, "looking like you're about to watch a movie."

            "I can only hope it's as entertaining as one," Himuro said. 

            "We're just gonna stand over here so we don't get in the way, yeah?"  Kagami said, hand still over his mouth, stifling laughter.

            Aomine gave them the finger.

            Now, posted in front of the gate, he hoped Kuroko would get there soon, so he didn't have to stand there longer than he had to, with three of his 'friends' standing a distance away, laughing at his suffering.  The sheer humiliation of the experience was _almost_ enough to block out the rush of his nerves.  He was _proposing_.  This was a big deal!  Tetsu wouldn't say no, right?  Well, he didn't know that for a fact...

            And now people were starting to give him looks.  Great, this was exactly what he'd been afraid of.  As if a guy walking around with a bunch of balloons in an airport didn't look stupid enough they _had_ to be pink and white.  Those three _had_ to choose pink and white!  With the flight from Japan pulling in, there was a whole new crowd of people here to gawk at him, in addition to the gaggle already making faces at him.  Aomine tried not to listen to what they were saying, but it was hard to avoid hearing what they were saying, even in a crowd full of people talking at the same time.

            "Hey, mommy, why do those balloons say ‘WILL ME YOU MARRY’?" asked an American kid, pointing.

            "Don't point, sweetie, it's rude," said the mother, ushering him away.  "Maybe he's not very good at English."

            He resented that.  He understood English just fine.  Nonetheless, Aomine rearranged the balloons in a hurry.

            "Oh, how sweet!" said another voice, this time of a young woman.  "He's gonna propose to his girlfriend!"

            "Hey, isn't he..." murmured a voice in Japanese.

            "Daiki Aomine!" exclaimed someone in English.

            "The basketball player?"

            "Yeah!"

            "No way, it _is_!"

            The cacophony of English and Japanese grew louder by the minute.  Aomine resisted the urge to run away and hide.  "Tetsu," he muttered, through grit teeth, "where _are_ you?"

            Oh, no, people were beginning to _approach_ him.  He almost looked over at his three not-friends in a plea for help. 

            "Excuse me," came the shy voice of a young boy accompanied by his mother.  "Could you give me an autograph, please?"

            "Uh, sure—"

            "Could I take a picture with you?" asked someone else, exuberant.

            "Me too!"

            "Yeah, just let me, uh—” Aomine shuffled the balloons around, unsuccessfully.

            "No, it's okay!" said the photographer.  Aomine didn't even know where to look.  "You can keep the balloons in the picture."

            At every flash of a camera, Aomine wondered how forced and unnatural his smile looked.  He cringed at the thought of leaving photographic evidence in the hands of the public.  Well, that probably wouldn’t matter anyway, seeing as how the entire world would find out about this shitstorm if there was even one paparazzo lurking around the airport.  Maybe he should've just let Alex and Himuro upload the recordings. 

            Was that a _line_ forming?  Could this get any more embarrassing?  At this point, Aomine glared over at Kagami and tried to tell him in a look, ' _get over here!_ '  Damn it, Kagami was on the same team as he was.  Kagami should’ve been adequately famous enough to divert some attention off of him – not as famous as Aomine was, of course – but why was everyone overlooking Kagami and flocking to where _he_ was?  Kagami didn’t notice.  The bastard wasn’t even looking properly in his direction.  He was laughing his ass off looking at some stupid airport sign!

            And as if getting mobbed wasn't bad enough, some kid came up to him, asking, "Hey, mister, are you giving out balloons?  Can I have a balloon?"

            Aomine had to draw the line at that.  "No freaking way, kid!  These are for my future h—uh.”  That came out snappier than he'd intended.  The kid's lower lip was starting to tremble.  Were those tears?  Those damn spoiled brats... oh, crap.  Aomine could feel the eyes of parents starting to glare at him.  He could see the headlines now.  ‘NBA All-Star Japanese Prodigy Terrorizes Children!’  Not that he really cared what people thought about him, but his manager and publicist certainly did, and they would have more than just a _few_ things to yell at him about.  That headline came second in horridness only to something like ‘Star Scorer Finally Misses!’, or maybe ‘Deflated Dreams! Aomine Gets Shut Down!’, or something just as awful and punny. 

            So, as damage control, Aomine gave in.  He sighed and pulled a balloon away from the bunch.  "Geez, kid, stop crying."

            The kid’s face brightened in an instant.  "Thanks, mister!"  That two-faced little shit.

            "Hey, can I have one too?" asked another kid.

            "Me too!" 

            "I want a pink one!"

            "Mister, gimme that big shiny one!"

            "Hey, kids—" His pleas fell on deaf ears.  Where were their parents?  Weren’t there laws that they had to keep their kids on leashes?

            In between fielding requests for pictures, autographs, and loudmouthed kids asking for balloons, Aomine lost track of how many he was giving away.  Eventually, he was left with a sole foil balloon, reading, nonsensically, 'ME'.  Some of the bystanders who hung around long enough to watch whispered between each other, wondering, "I wonder what happened?  Nobody came to meet him."  But soon enough, the crowd began filtering away.

            Aomine wanted to crawl in a hole and die.  Had he gotten the date wrong?  The arrival time, maybe?  He had never been good with time zones. 

            Or could it have been that Tetsu had seen him but walked away in silent rejection?

            Aomine kind of felt like crying.

            At that moment, someone – a kid, he guessed; the guy was short – approached him.  "May I have that balloon?" the stranger asked.

            "Yeah, sure," Aomine said, dejected.  He didn't have the energy to be snippy anymore.  "Just take it."

            "All right, Aomine-kun."  A familiar hand closed over his own, fingers twining around the string.  "I'll take you."

            "Tetsu!"  Aomine said, with a start.  "Where were you—?”

            "More importantly," Kuroko said, deadpan, "has your English proficiency deteriorated?  There is no way 'marry you will me' makes any sense.”

            "Dammit!"  Aomine yelled, grabbing Kuroko in a headlock.  "You were here watching the whole time, weren't you!"

            "Aomine-kun, that hurts—"

            "Do you have any idea how much bullshit I just went through!"  Aomine said, though the indignation in his voice lacked any real sharpness.  The headlock became a hug, and there he was, practically doubled over, face buried in Kuroko's shoulder, trying to hide the way his hands were shaking.  

            "So that's a yes, right?"  Aomine mumbled, words muffled against Kuroko's shirt.  "No backing out.  Till death do us part, y'know?"

            Kuroko brought his hands up around Aomine's shoulders.  "Gotcha," Kuroko said, quiet beside his ear, and Aomine knew without seeing that Kuroko had that smile on his face, the one that always made his heart stop for a beat.

            They stayed like that for a few minutes, mainly because Aomine wouldn't let Kuroko go.  Well, it was more like he couldn't, because, shit, he couldn't get that grin off his face.  He was going to look like a freaking idiot walking out of the airport – as though he needed any more bad publicity.  On top of all the possible stupid tabloid headlines he was going to get accused of drug use or something; he probably looked high.

            And frankly Aomine wouldn't have had any problem looking high except that sense of unbridled elation came crashing down not too long after when he was reminded of the unwelcome presence of three inconsiderate jerks once Kuroko greeted them.

            "Are you two _filming_ this?"  Aomine said, springing up at the sight of Alex and Himuro holding up their phones.

            "For the memories!  The happy memories!"  Alex said.

            "You can play this at your wedding," Himuro said.

            "You people _aren't invited_!"

            “After all we did to help?” Kagami asked, still grinning obnoxiously.

            “You helped make things _worse_ ,” Aomine snapped.

            “Aomine-kun,” Kuroko said, resting a placating hand on Aomine’s arm.  “Don’t be so angry with our friends.”

            “They’re not my friends,” Aomine protested.

            “Don’t worry,” Kuroko told them.  “You’re still welcome.”

            “Let’s not jump to any speedy decisions, Tetsu,” Aomine said.  “We can talk about this.”

            “Hey!” Alex said.  “Now we can help you plan the wedding!”

            Aomine grabbed Kuroko’s hand and ran for it.

            Unfortunately, Aomine forgot to take into account the fact that Kuroko had a hefty suitcase sitting around where they had been standing.  With great regret he had to turn around, where he did his best not to make eye contact with Alex, Himuro, and Kagami, all of whom were smiling indulgently at him like he was a clumsy puppy who’d just tripped over his own two feet.  Aomine took care to stay a good distance behind the three as they headed out of the airport.  He kept a tight grip on Kuroko’s hand the entire way.

            In the parking lot, after Kuroko’s luggage was stowed away in the trunk of Aomine’s car, they waved goodbye to Kagami and company, with the promise of meeting them later for dinner in the air.  Aomine had had enough of them for the day, but he knew Kuroko wanted to see his friends after having been apart for so long, and well, he couldn’t look Kuroko in the face and say no.  Inwardly Aomine cursed them.  Here he was, a guy who hadn’t seen his boyfriend (now fiancé!) in person for _months_.  Couldn’t they just be tactful and leave them alone?

            Aomine took his time getting into the car, watching Kagami’s car pull out of the parking lot before he climbed in, heaving a long, mournful sigh as he slumped in his seat.  Once inside, he slowly turned to his right, returning Kuroko’s level, unblinking stare.

            “Hey there,” Aomine said, biting his lip to keep a stupid grin at bay.

            “Hello,” Kuroko replied.

            They continued the staring contest for a few moments longer, before a smile broke out in full force on Kuroko’s face.

            “So, balloons, huh,” Kuroko said, finally.

            “That wasn’t my idea!” Aomine said, flushing.  “That is _not_ how I wanted to do it.  At _all_.”

            Kuroko turned away, back shaking.

            Aomine whacked him.  “Stop laughing!  Speaking of which,” he said, looking at the balloon in the backseat, the one emblazoned with ‘ME’, “why are you keeping that damn thing?”

            “Why wouldn’t I?” Kuroko asked.  “You went through the trouble of getting it for me.”

            “Just throw it out already.”

            “I won’t throw it away,” Kuroko said.  “I’m keeping it.  Even after it runs out of air.”

            Aomine felt his cheeks growing hotter.  “I’m gonna need booze tonight.  A _lot_ of it.  I need to purge this day from my memory.”

            “I’d rather you didn’t do that, Aomine-kun.”

            “Hey, where were you, anyway?  While I was busy being a hilarious airport attraction.  I know you saw me.  Don’t lie.”

            Kuroko’s smile turned sheepish.  “I was behind a large sign.”

            “Dammit!” Aomine said, remembering the way Kagami kept ignoring him and looking in another direction.  That explained why he was making all those stupid gestures at an airport sign.  “That asshole.  He should’ve said something!”

            “Don’t blame him,” Kuroko said.  “I asked him not to tell you.”

            “…Why?”

            “I suppose… I wasn’t sure if it was really happening.”

            “What, did you think I was just messing with you?”

            “The thought had crossed my mind,” Kuroko said.  “I admit I wondered at first if you were playing a prank on me.”

            “Who would _do_ that?” Aomine said.  “Who would make a laughingstock out of himself just to play a prank?”

            “Of course I didn’t think you were doing it for laughs.  You might be an idiot, Aomine-kun, and you’ve pulled your share of overblown pranks, but I know you wouldn’t joke about something like that.”

            Aomine swallowed a scowl from the jab and asked, “So then, what did you think?”

            “I didn’t know how to react,” Kuroko said, slowly, “because even now, I have a hard time believing that you’re really mine.”

            Aomine gaped at Kuroko for a few moments before managing to say, “…How can you say such embarrassing things with a straight face?”

            “You asked me what I was thinking.”

            “Besides,” Aomine said, “you should stop worrying about such pointless things.  You said you were keeping me, right?”  He pointed to the balloon.  “I already belong to you.”

            Kuroko exhaled a sudden, startled laugh.  “You’re right,” he said.

            “Don’t you ever make me say something so corny _ever_ again,” Aomine said.

            “Then don’t make me.”

            “Jerk,” Aomine muttered, without any real heat in the words.  “Right,” he said, fumbling to dig something out of his pocket, “Here.”  He snapped open a ring box lined in velvet; inside, the sun’s light glided over the gently domed profile of twin rings in polished platinum.  On the rings, a narrow groove ran around the center, quietly sitting in shadows.  “Here.  I should’ve shown you these earlier, but I couldn’t find a good moment in the chaos.  I didn’t know if it’d be a good idea to go ahead and get them but—I wanted to be the one who bought them.”

            “They’re perfect,” Kuroko said, and reached out for them without hesitation.  He slid the one he knew to be his on his finger.

            “You’re putting it on already?  We’re not even married yet.”

            “I don’t want to wait.”

            That was it; Aomine was done with words.  He slid an arm across Kuroko’s shoulders, pulling him close, catching his lips against his own.  Somewhere between reacquainting himself with the curve of Kuroko’s mouth and the shape of his tongue, Aomine felt a gentle push against his chest.

            “Woah there,” Kuroko said, pulling away with a low chuckle and a fond smile on his lips.  “We’d better go home first.”

            Home.  Aomine liked the way it sounded in Kuroko’s voice.

            On the way back from the airport Aomine was in even greater danger of careening into the wrong part of traffic.  This time it wasn’t because of a swarm of balloons blocking the view out the windows.  He couldn’t keep both hands on the wheel because he couldn’t bring himself to tear his right hand apart from where he’d twined it with Kuroko’s.  And on the steering wheel, the light glinting off the ring on his left was really distracting.

            Maybe Himuro was right.  He _did_ feel a little like he was floating.


End file.
